Jalopnik: Colin Mcrae

A Tribute to Colin McRae

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 08:08:35 EDT

With the magnitude of this weekend's loss becoming clearer with each passing news story, we kept busy by cutting together some footage from Colin McRae's career into a Jalopnik tribute clip. We only wish there could be more.

UK's Telegraph Prints Touching Colin McRae Obituary After Rally Driver's Tragic Helicopter Crash

Ray Wert — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:27:05 EDT

The folks at UK's Telegraph have a touching obit up on Colin McRae, the rally champ whose life, and the life of his young son were tragically cut short yesterday in a helicopter crash near his home in Scotland. It's worthwhile reading for all. [via Telegraph.co.uk]

Rally Champ Colin McRae Killed in Helicopter Crash; Son Feared Dead

Mike Spinelli — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:16:00 EDT

A helicopter registered to ex-rally driver Colin McRae went down in Scotland earlier today. No word on how many people were on board, but there were no survivors. Details as we know them. [UPDATE: The worst has been confirmed by the Times — McRae was killed in the crash. His five-year-old son was also on board, and is feared dead.][Sky News]

Clarkson vs. Herbert vs. McRae

Davey G. Johnson — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:45:00 EDT

Here's an obviously old bit we'd never run across before — Clarkson arranges three Ford products on the starting line at Silverstone — a Cougar, Colin McRae's WRC Focus and Johnny Herbert's Stewart F1 machine — and gives himself a flying head start with Herbert leaving in the tail-end position. Watch and get stoked.

Colin McRae Shows off New Rally Car at Goodwood

Mike Spinelli — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:07:58 EDT

Rally legend-in-waiting Colin McRae's own rally car, the R4, made its public debut in racing trim at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK this weekend. The car was first seen at last year's Goodwood event, and McRae says it's suitable for rallying rallycross, ice racing and circuit racing, in addition to general non-street hoonage. McRae designed the R4's chassis along with and Dave Plant of motorsports development firm DJM. No word on when (or for whom) the R4 will see competition, though a good bet is the Race of Champions next year. But first, a good flog is likely in the offing; McRae says he's yet to drive it more than 20 miles. (Specs after the jump.) [Photos by Tom Newis] – Mike Spinelli

Colin McRae's car is R4some [The Sun (UK)]

Technical Specifications

Chassis:
· Designed by Colin McRae and Dave Plant
· Built by DJM Race Preparation
· Steel safety cage throughout
· Carbon paneling front and rear
· Steel covered cockpit area

Suspension:
· Twin wishbone with Proflex dampers

Body:
· Design by Keith Burden and Tom Webster

Engine:
· Normally aspirated 4 cylinder / 2,5 litre Millington Diamond Engine producing 350 BHP

Drivetrain:
· Option for 2 or 4 wheel drive format
· Mechanical front and rear differentials
· Option for a mechanical or active central differential
· Six-speed dog box with manual or semi-automatic gear change

Clarkson on Going Fast

Davey G. Johnson — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 09:30:00 EST

Wherein Jeremy plays a bit of tennis, cracks up a rally car and tests his reaction times against Michael Schumacher. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Paper Lanterns: Clarkson Blows Up a Yugo [Internal]

Hoon off the Day: Colin McRae

Mike Spinelli — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:59:05 EDT

It's just another day at the office for ber-rallyist Colin McRae, who shows off his superior hoonage kung fu in this clip. For us, it's the equivalent of watching a principal dancer from the Bolshoi Ballet doing a warm-up. [Thanks to Stephen for the tip.]

Related:
More on Colin McRae [internal]

Gleaming the Tube: X Games Rally Update

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 08:17:32 EDT

There it went, this past weekend — the first rally car racing event graced the X Games. As matters shook out at the The Home Depot Center, Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom wound up with the gold, but it was Colin McRae who scored the most freestyle points with the Rockstar-addled crowd. Coming into the games' "Super Special" contest with a 0.5 second edge over Pastrana was veteran rallyist, McRae, who was favored to dust the field. But as he and co-driver Nicky Grist dropped into the stadium for a last sprint for the finish line, he barrel-rolled the team's Subaru, landing wheels down. A last, full-throttle effort toward the checkered flag brought him in 0.52 seconds short — nabbing McRae the silver medal. Pretty slick, Macky. Thanks to amateur video, we can check it out here. Aye! Click through for final standings.

· Travis Pastrana / Christian Edstrom: 12:02.19
· Colin McRae / Nicky Grist: 12:02.71
· Ken Block / Alex Gelsomino: 12:21.32
· Lauchlin O'Sullivan / Scott Putnam: 12:22.59
· Paul Choiniere / Jeff Becker: 12:28.36
· Pat Richard / Nathalie Richard: 12:38.64
· Ramana Lagemann / Mike Fennell: 12:53.50
· Matt Iorio / Ole Holter: 12:57.30
· Tanner Foust / Scott Crouch: 13:01.44
· Wyeth Gubelmann / Cindy Krolikowski: 13:11.81
· Andrew Comrie-Picard / Marc Goldfarb: 15:36.05
· Rhys Millen / Tony Sircombe: DNF

X-Games Rallying: Americans Hold Their Own Against McRae

Davey G. Johnson — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 23:30:00 EDT

It's gotta be daunting to go up against Colin McRae in rally competition. It's like staging against Don Garlits or qualifying against Junior Johnson. Or going for a friendly jog with Carl Lewis. Then again, when you're Travis Pastrana, we imagine it takes a fair amount to faze you. And while the Vermont SportsCar crew makes mental notes to bring more air dams to next year's rally, Pastrana is only a half-second off of McRae's pace on the X-Games rally. Meanwhile, after hearing McRae's tale of taking out a photog during a stage, Scotto is reconning the courses for very stout trees to shield himself.

X-Treme Blog: Day 3 [WRC.com]

Related:
Scotto Can't Get Enough of the Rallying [Internal]

Scotto Can't Get Enough of the Rallying

Davey G. Johnson — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Whether it's the point-to-point, party-to-party on-road banzai antics of the Bullrun and Gumball, or the off-highway, minimal-traction action of WRC, it seems like our boy Scotto just can't keep his face filled with rallying. It is food to him. As such, he's blogging over at WRC.com this week in anticipation of the upcoming first-ever X-Games rallying segment. Go show the tall man some love.

X-Treme Blog Day One [WRC.com]

Related:
McRae to Participate in X-Games Rally [Internal]

Mcrae's Rally Car Debuts at Goodwood

Mike Spinelli — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 12:13:28 EDT

This past weekend, Rally champ Colin McRae may have revolutionized the rallying game, unveiling his R4 racer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The car, which Mcrae once said he wanted to look like the Mk2 Escort (not that the finished product reflects it), was created with help from UK firms, DJM Race Preparations and Millington Engines. It's got a 340-hp, 2.5-liter bespoke four-cylinder engine, six-speed sequential gearbox and a choice of rear-wheel or four-wheel drive. According to Autocar, the principals expect the R4 to hit 60mph in five seconds, with subsequent models including a turbocharged mill for even more trecherous tree-dodging. Privateers should expect to shell out $240,000 this fall for the 'base' model.

Mcrae's Own Car Breaks Cover [Autocar]

Related:
Not Just a Pretty Face: Colin McRae Designs Own Rally Car [internal]

McRae to Participate in X Games Rally

Davey G. Johnson — Fri, 19 May 2006 17:45:00 EDT

The ESPNs are really going all-out with this X Games rally thing; they've just signed up Colin McRae to race during the August event. With his trusty Nicky Grist handling the navigating and his foot stomping on the mill, it'll be interesting to see how he does up against motocross wunderkind and X Games poster-child Travis Pastrana. We're more and more of the opinion that if presented right, having the sport in the X Games can only ultimately do it good. Who knows? Maybe rallying will replace some of the endless roundy-round on Speed. Well, we can dream, can't we?

Subaru Rally USA

Related:
Rallying Becomes an X Game [Internal]